Angèle Returns

Angèle reflects: “I went to say hi in their dressing room after their show, which I’d loved. It was the first time we met, and we talked a lot about our careers and our creative visions. I spontaneously suggested they come to the studio. We spent an afternoon listening to the demos I’d been working on on my computer. I had this track, ‘What You Want,’ a slightly sultry, sensual, offbeat song I’d written. But since I wasn’t completely satisfied with it, I’d put it aside. I thought Justice could bring the electro-club expertise — and the tension — that were missing from that first version. After we met, I sent them the demo, and they came back with this version that I found absolutely brilliant. They understood everything! They brought a power to the track that the intention and balance had been missing. Bringing our worlds together without losing our identities — that’s the greatest success of this song!”

Justice’s Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé share: “Spending a bit of time with Angèle confirmed the intuition we had about her: she’s an excellent musician and producer. Making ‘What You Want’ with her felt as easy as it was natural. Although her music is different from ours, the track called for something sensual and brutal that we instinctively connected with, without compromise.”

(LA)HORDE adds: “We wondered how, after the Olympic buzz around her collaboration with Phoenix and Kavinsky, a woman of her generation could make the codes of the French Touch her own — a powerful artistic movement, but also a very male-dominated one. We found it incredibly exciting to support this meeting between the fathers of electro and Angèle’s own universe.”

Music

Getting Magical with mermaidonmars on “Spellbook”

Born in the Netherlands, Shanna van Loozenoord, 21, quietly yet assuredly arrived on the music scene as mermaidonmars in early 2023 with her debut single “Shooting Her”. Quickly followed up with “Romantic Malevolence”, she finished 2024 off with the release of her EP “Like a God”.

Yet 2025 would mark the biggest shift in mermaidonmars’ career so far when she got signed by Hallwood Media. Around a year later, December 19th now marks the release of “Spellbook”, which features a tightly curated tracklist of 12 songs set over 37 minutes and supported by four singles: “Ease”, “I’m So Pretty”, “Birthday Party Crash” and “Cognitive Dissonance”.

When I asked her to describe the album, she quickly replied, “It’s bitterness wrapped into a sweet wrapper. It looks like it's going to be sweet, but it's very bitter tasting.” This really was the thesis for the album, the careful balance of light and dark.

The process of creating this audiovisual language began properly in March of this year. The experience has taken her all over the world from LA and Paris to nearby Amsterdam. The adventure at times became a wild ride; she even told me how one trip was interrupted by a visit to the emergency room.

During the trips to LA, the creation of the album had been led by executive-producer Synthetic, best known for his work with Lil Uzi Vert, Yeat and Ice Spice. This marked the first time mermaidonmars had collaborated on her music, as she had self-produced everything previously. The process became soothing, with her describing the experience positively saying, “It almost kind of felt like therapy.”

Music is more than just personal for mermaidonmars; it’s a way for her to send messages to the people in her past. “I hope that the people that I wrote this about are going to be listening to it and regretting their choices,” she told me with a coy smile.

It really is all about the people for mermaidonmars. She told me all about her plans for album release day saying, “I just want to be with my friends, I think. My dad is the most excited about it. He's been telling the neighbours or just random people on the streets. It's funny.”

His excitement is shared by the fans who are rapidly rising in number. In fact, at the time of publishing this article, mermaidonmars now has over 160,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, a new peak for the rising star. However, she tells me streaming numbers are not her drive; it is all about the art. “I have a lot of artistic pride, which can be a downfall because it needs to come to me,” she reflected.

This pride often rears its head in a deep form of self-competition. “I have such a strong competition against my past self. It's insane,” she said. So, talking a few days before “Spellbook” even comes out, mermaidonmars is already thinking about how to improve her art on her second album, saying, “It's been on my mind. Every day in the past week, actually. I'm already planning and writing.”

Considering that only a couple of years ago she was studying law, it is clear to see where mermaidonmars’ passion lay all along. Her passion for creating found gold with her main inspirations: Björk, Grimes and Florence + The Machine.

Inevitably, after listening to the album and hearing her main inspirations, I wondered if she had any Dutch influences. Whilst she has fondness for the Dutch music scene, she tells me she does not plan to release Dutch music anytime soon. “If that were to happen, I probably would have been body switched or something. It's not me. Like the Avril Lavigne theory,” she humorously told me.

Even her personal poetry is completely in English. She is keen to share this part of herself with the fans, now creating a website solely devoted to her poetry. The hardest part for mermaidonmars is now finding the time to write poetry alongside making music. “My music feels like an alter ego world where I can spill my secrets,” she finishes.

Music is truly where it all started for mermaidonmars, from writing in her bedroom to recording in LA. With an upcoming live performance in Amsterdam, she is ready for whatever comes next.

"Spellbook" is out now.

Music

office x Apple Music: Mietze Conte

December 23, 2025

Ahead of the New Year, Vienna-based DJ Mietze Conte teamed up with office to create his own personalized mix for our Apple Music page. Back in September, we got behind-the-scenes access to his NYC debut and all the great energy him and his fans had to offer. Just ten minutes before dancing the night away in a smoke-filled Market Hotel, we took a smoke break outside where he said hi to fans who made sure he was keeping the timing in mind. Relaxed and ready to go, we headed upstairs seconds before the bounciest set of the night began.

Mietze is the type of artist who performs while on facetime with his girlfriend in a signature Viennese bowling shirt. He has a playful, more wholesome take on the stereotypical DJ trope and is not afraid to play the songs we want to hear. When asking about his North American tour he laughingly recounted, “In Mexico, I performed at this event called knockout…and it knocked me out.” Central to this project is a desire to remind his audience that it’s okay to be themselves and to be weird. His unmistakable lighthearted and infectious sound is exactly why we wanted to collaborate with him on a DJ Mix and get to know him better. Keep reading to get deeper into his punk attitude, musical inspirations, and more.

Head here to listen to the mix in full.

Interview + Words by Abby Dillingham
Photography by Emma McLoughlin

Did you have a favorite part of the show?

It was all great to be honest. It was super sick to perform that one song with Daniela [Lalita]. That was really nice.

Can you tell me more about that? Was that a surprise?

Yeah, it was super spontaneous. I just asked her [Daniela] to come randomly and spontaneously to do the song together.

Where did the name “Mietze Conte” come from?

I freestyled it. I was in the studio with Prem, and he was making a beat or something, and I went up to the microphone. I was just goofing around and freestyling. I was making weird animal noises like “Meow, meow, meow,” and Mietze means little cat in Austria. Then I just said, “Mietze Conte on the beat,” and thought it was a pretty good artist name. It's fun [laughs].

Does Conte mean anything?

In hindsight, I found out that it means “duke” in Italian. So it's “baby cat duke” [laughs]. It sounds so neutral, but has such a specific meaning.

Do you feel like you've embraced that meaning at all?

One hundred percent [laughs]. Like a wild street cat wearing a gold necklace.

I've always done a bunch of projects and I feel like from the moment that I picked up my first instrument, which was bass, I knew this was going to be my life.

When did you realize that making music could be more than just for fun? I know this is just one project… but do you have other projects as well that you were doing before?

I've been making music since I was like 10 years old. I was playing in metal bands. I was in a drum and bass project. I've always done a bunch of projects and I feel like from the moment that I picked up my first instrument, which was bass, I knew this was going to be my life. I knew music was my life, I just felt like this was it.

So from 10 years old, I was just a fan of music. I remember listening to rock and metal music on my iPod and being this angsty and emo kid. The bass and playing music just opened up a whole new world and that just stuck with me. The fact that now, I can live off making music is just a side product, really. It's something that allows me to spend more time making music. It is a huge privilege and I'm super grateful for it but that was never my goal or my focus.

Do you have any particular artists that inspired you or that inspired you now?

Björk and Bobby McFerrin.

Both artists are masters of their voice and I'm particularly drawn to people who use their voices creatively to make all kinds of noises and use the range of the voice. It's such an insane instrument and nowadays if you listen to pop music, the voice only gets used in one specific way. I feel like that’s a shame because it's a limitless instrument.

Are you the one singing on all of your tracks?

Yeah, I'm singing on all of them.

Your sound is also super playful… Why were you drawn to making something like that?

I’ve always been making music and for a while I was stuck in this neurotic corporate way of making music. I was being super cerebral about it and I felt like it wasn’t me and just didn’t feel natural to me. So I found my way back to the beginning and made experimenting and having fun my main goal. That’s really how Mietze Conte started. It's just me exploring my passion for music and that's it.

Do you have a spirit animal?

It always changes. Right now, it’s the beluga whale [laughs]. I love beluga whales.

What do you love about them?

They have an insane energy. They're like unicorns or something. There is of course the narwhal, which is actually a unicorn whale… but I don't really fuck with them. The beluga whales …I'm obsessed with though. I love water animals. I also like octopuses, lobsters and whales. I'm a Pisces so that might play into it.

Is dance music particularly important right now?

Dance music, and electronic music in general, have such a direct impact. It's always been important from the dawn of humanity [laughs]. Because of its power, it can get abused by industries as a way to market and industrialize. Especially now, there's a lot of dance projects happening that don't have the best interest of the community at heart. So I think it’s important to have sane voices in dance music.

So not as manufactured or corporate? Is that what you mean?

Yeah and it's insane how many destructive narratives are flowing around. If you listen to the lyrics and how people are marketing themselves…there’s no message. There’s no political mindset, it's just about taking as many drugs as possible. I'm fine with people taking drugs and going crazy but I feel like if that's your only message then I don't really get it. It’s unoriginal in a way.

What’s the message in your music?

My message was always subliminal and more about getting a punk attitude across and hopefully making people feel that it's okay to be yourself and just be weird, different, and make music that sounds original. But I've also been craving a more direct message. I haven’t implemented that into my music directly, but I'm planning to implement that more and more in my live gigs and on social media.

You had your admin reveal recently... What made you want to come out of the shadows?

It was time! The project grew so much. At the beginning, it was just me just having fun and exploring. At a certain point if you have an audience it's important to connect with them, take on the responsibility and get into a dialogue. You can only do that if you show yourself.

Do you like to dance yourself?

I love dancing. I've always loved dancing. I think my true calling was being a dancer.

[Laughs], what kind of dancer do you think you would have been?

I love every kind of dance. I just think dancing is insane. So powerful.

If you missed him in the this time around, stay tuned for his return to the states in May. The DJ has plans bring his wufwufwuf headline tour to the EU/UK and US tour starting in March so stay tuned for more.

Music

Cannelle's Baby Blue World

December 17, 2025

Cannelle Ferragu’s world started in the French countryside and surfaced through the early internet before ever entering the club or touching a stage. What began as a Tumblr-era escape hatch has grown, pixel by pixel, baby-blue hair by baby-blue hair, into a full-fledged visual and sonic universe. Part sincere party girl, part club resurrectionist, part everything-artist, Cannelle “wants to touch everything.”

Fresh off a show with Live From Earth in Paris, office caught up with Canelle about stage-fright, the perfect outfit, and transforming her early-internet tendencies into something actualized yet untameable, but so viscerally her own.

Photography by Lulu Syracuse
Styling + Creative Production by Cassie Jekanoski
Makeup by Marla Vazquez at The Wall Group
Hair by Joc Vega
Interview by Alice Mercy
Drone OP and Lighting by Augie Syracuse
Special thanks to Derek Perlman

CANNELLE wears JACKET by SPENCER BADU ℅ EMCEE STUDIOS, DRESS is VINTAGE from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE, BIKINI by LOS ANGELES APPAREL, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, and SHOES are CUSTOM from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE.

CANNELLE wears BODYSUIT by NO SCENE GIRL, SKIRT by 1XBLUE, JEWELRY by OGBFF, and HEELS by ROMBAUT.

How are you doing, what have you been up to?

CANNELLE– I'm good! I'm staying at my sister’s in Paris right now. I had a show this weekend with Live From Earth. It was really fun. So yeah, I’ve just been back home, doing my shows, seeing artists.

How do you divide your time between France and the US?

I'm both in France and America, but I've been working more in America because I wanted to expand my art and see new things since I grew up in the countryside. As a countryside person, I've always wanted to see the city life, see more stuff. I’m mostly in the US now.

What’s your relationship to the internet like, especially as an artist?

Social media helped me have people who could really see me. I've always been at home. I wasn't really going outside - especially as a teenager… I had a lot of social anxiety. That's the age when people start judging you. I've always been on social media - like the early days, early Instagram days, early Tumblr days. It was a tool for me to expand my photography, my fashion, creative direction - I have a strong relationship to [it]. I was more of a social media girly, now it’s the music. I'm really grateful to have a community that can enjoy the music as well, now that I'm expanding. It's good that both can collide.

Yeah I totally agree. It used to be that mostly people who grew up in cities, or random people who were super lucky, got to pursue these creative things.

Exactly.

But you’re coming from more of a rural area…

Yeah literally, I’m from a village. There are no Black girls here, there are no alternative people whatsoever. I downloaded Instagram when I was 11 years old, that’s when I was like ‘there are people like me.’ There are people who do crazy stuff; there are people who do all the shit I’m thinking about. That’s how everything started. Content creators weren’t really a thing back then, it was just cool people.

CANNELLE wears VINTAGE DRESS from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE, BIKINI by LOS ANGELES APPAREL, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, and SHOES are CUSTOM from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE.

When did you start making music?

I started music for fun two years ago. I didn’t plan to have a music career. My sister and my dad are both musicians, so I always grew up around that and I played the synth when I was a kid - but I started making music for fun. I was a big fan of my friend’s production on a song he made, so I reached out to him. I was like “hey, can I hop on this?” because I really wanted to make a music video. I wanted to challenge myself - like ‘if I’m doing this music video, then I can do a song.’ If you can be the creative director, if you can be the stylist, you can also try to be the singer… so I said ‘fuck it.’ I made the song. It had really silly lyrics, just a catchy song. Now I’m listening to it and I’m like ‘this is so stupid.’ But it was fun, people enjoyed it. It was raw. I didn't take myself super seriously, even though I take my vision seriously, the lyrics themselves weren’t serious. The passion started from that first song and now it’s an everyday thing. I’m producing, song writing, I also started song writing for other artists… which is insane. I grew so much from it in only two years. I’m just super excited for the next year because I’m gonna drop a project.

It’s such a relatable thing to just want to make a music video but to have to have like something to base it off of.

Yeah, I couldn’t just do the music video… and I didn’t want to give my vision to someone else. I just had to do it myself.

Do you think visually a lot?

Yes, I do. It’s definitely helping me through the lyrics, I have visual ideas, concepts, locations. I’m always wondering how I can make a sound that fits these vibes. I think they need each other. Sometimes I can make a song and I don’t have an idea for a video, but sometimes I have a video idea and I’ll need a song for it.

Is the creative direction you’re going in extremely clear to you?

I feel like I already know the direction I want to go in, the only thing that I wanna keep on building is the stories. I don't necessarily have the biggest budget to do all the crazy stuff yet, hopefully soon, if I work enough. I definitely wanna do crazier ideas than what I've done. The world itself is just so amazing, being able to put these ideas, all these references into, you know, me… it’s super… it’s a passion.

I actually got to see you perform at the No Agency party which was really fun.

Oh yes, that was my first show ever!

Yeah, it was awesome… the whole bar was blue, and your hair was so blue.

Yeah, it was so cute. I was nervous because it was my first time performing ever. I did it, then I threw up so much after that. I was so scared. It was actually horrible.

I don’t think anyone could tell you were nervous. You were great. How do you feel about performing now? Do you view performing and music as one in the same or are they completely separate things to you?

When it comes to performing I feel like I’m always slightly nervous. It’s a good question because I just did a show, and that experience was crazy because I was so not nervous. I don’t know if it was because my friends and my family were there… it was also an early show, when it’s an earlier show I’m less anxious. But when it’s a late show and I have to wait the whole night, I’m thinking about it like “oh my god it’s 8:00pm, it’s 9:00pm, it’s 10:00pm oh my god,” but since it was 7:00pm I was like I’m gonna eat, I’m gonna do the show right away. I wasn’t nervous at all. In the moment, I’m always interacting with the crowd. I want to bring the best energy I can because I’m not the best singer in the world. I didn’t grow up a singer. I didn’t even have autotune. I was just yelling into the mic, but I love the raw energy. People were dancing, and that’s my goal, I wanna make people dance - make people have fun. I don’t want them to be like “oh, let me hear her voice and see if she can actually sing.” That’s not my point. Even I could agree, if you think I’m not good at singing, I’d be like “sure, I don’t care. That’s not what I’m here for.” Performing is really important when it comes to world building in real life. That’s how people see you and your musical and visual world. So I always ask to have a set design, lighting design. I want the world in front of people's eyes. So yeah, I think the performance is important for the music in my opinion.

CANNELLE wears BODYSUIT by NO SCENE GIRL, SKIRT by 1XBLUE, JEWELRY by OGBFF, and HEELS by ROMBAUT.

If people aren’t seeing you live and they’re listening to your music, where would you want them to be?

That’s a really good question. If they listen to my music I think I would want them to be in the dark with a lot of lights all around… I’m literally describing my live performance. I feel like that’s the best place they could listen. Live… in the dark at a club… with a dream-state energy. You know when you’re falling asleep… and you see the stuff in your eyes.

When you’re thinking of your personal style, what are the things that make you feel correct?

First of all, I really like my baby blue hair. I feel like it's really my outfit. Not even clothes. Just my hair is my outfit. I like a cute pair of heels and I love wearing mini shorts. Just looking feminine. Before I used to be into over accessorising, which I love, but now I'm kind of maximalist in a minimalist way. I’ll have the maximalist hair, maximalist shoes - but that’s it. I love having this feminine, confident… just a bold, strong visual style, but I’m not accessorising too much anymore. Which is really funny because I do love accessories. Now I’m gonna wear a really good necklace, and I’m good. A really big, chunky necklace and that’s it.

I feel like it shows that the world you’re making creates a larger context, like you have your signature now.

Yeah yeah, because I used to put everything into my outfit and pictures and now I feel like I can breathe.

In the beginning I feel like you have to ride so hard for yourself and when it starts working you can just…

Exactly. I was trying to show a lot of things because I felt like I couldn’t speak for myself, but now I’m speaking and showing another dimension of it. I feel like my body can rest. If that makes sense.

Yeah totally, resting stylistically. If you could define the world you’re building in three words, what would they be?

I have a list of words in my notes. Glitter, cinnamon, cuz it’s my name, and that last one, I think chic. Glitter, cinnamon, chic.

What have you learned in 2025?

Moving to the US, leaving home and stuff… I don’t know if it’s too cliche, but you really have to be your own best friend. Just be your own everything. Even if it’s hard, you really need to keep on pushing. Even if people are talented, if there are amazing people who can do it for you, no one is gonna do it better than yourself. So just be your own everything. And everything’s gonna come to you naturally. You have your own rules, your own vision, you know where you’re going. At the end of the day, people will never know what you want and how you work, what you stand for, so you just have to be your own everything.

What’s been a highlight for you in 2025?

I did a performance in Paris at this exhibition place called Cinq-Quatre. It was fun because it’s such an interesting place. It brought so many cool artists. I met Frost Children and Kim Petras, who I’m really a big fan of, and Margot, who is my friend now, she's an amazing producer. The show was insane. It was my biggest crowd yet, I've never done a crowd like that before. People really showed up even though it was early, so I was happy about that. I feel very proud. If I could describe the show, it was just some fire, club, French shit. I wanna bring this club scene back, especially in France. And looking back at it, I feel like it happened that night. People were enjoying the show and nobody was on their phones - we were just jumping around. I had blue wigs for the crowd, I was throwing them. People wore them after. It was my second show in Paris. I’m always gonna show up for French people. I’m French - I’m always gonna show up for France. Always.

CANNELLE wears BODYSUIT by NO SCENE GIRL, SKIRT by 1XBLUE, JEWELRY by OGBFF, and HEELS by ROMBAUT.

What are you looking forward to?

I'm excited about the mixtape that I'm dropping next year. This is gonna be my first body of work ever, so I'm just really looking forward to it because I plan to put out a good amount of songs. I have a rule, and everybody’s got their own opinion, but I didn't really wanna do an EP because I have too many songs. Even if they’re not all perfect, I just want to throw in everything, not overthink it. I want to have over 10 songs… not a five, six track EP. I’m still building my sound, I’m still building my audience. I don’t have to be at the top or whatever, these are the moments where I’m allowed to fail. You know?

For sure. It’s definitely real of you to not try and hyper-curate everything like that. In terms of being involved in club culture, it requires this rawness.

I think music is raw, period. In any city or country, people are here to live in the moment and forget about their problems. And you just wanna make memories. In ten years people are gonna look back and say “do you remember these parties?” I want to make good memories. Memories are all that matter.

You make really good music, but you also think in so many other ways. Are there any other long-term pursuits that you're curious about?

If I'm being honest, I'm curious about everything. I wanna touch everything. But my main goal is definitely to pursue this music career. I wanna drop as many projects as I can, and do as many shows as I can. I want to go on tour. That’s my dream. After the music, I love fashion. If I have the opportunity to make clothes or design stuff, I’d love that. I designed for a jewelry brand. I did a little collection for them, so that was one of my first things as a designer, which is fun but I definitely want to tap into something more serious for my own thing. I want to connect the visual, the music, and the fashion. It has to be a whole thing. I don’t want to just stick to the music, but music came to me, and fashion will come to me. In the music world, I’d love to write for artists, even produce for artists. I started producing, I'm not the best producer yet, but give me five years. I really want to put my vision into other artists. That would be the dream. For real.

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Angèle Returns

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